Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1129 1124 [I also have a family tree, I am also a Huaxia Miao! ]

Changing Kyushu Island to Yingzhou was only the first step. Although a governor would be appointed, it was actually more like an overseas territory.

Because it is difficult to govern at the grassroots level, it is necessary to rely on the existing local powerful forces.

At this time in Japan, the Ritsuryo system had not completely collapsed, and the daimyo system had not yet been fully formed.

To put it simply, the Japanese imperial court sent officials to govern the counties, but the officials often did not take up their posts in person, but stayed in the central government to enjoy life and pursue power. They sent their confidants to govern the counties on their behalf, while the officials who actually implemented the policies were local tyrants. The local tyrants were also a loose group, controlling large and small samurai groups.

The Ming Dynasty's initial governance of Yingzhou was basically the same, with the governor and commander stationed in Fukuoka, and at most personally governing Nagasaki Port. The rest of the territory was handed over to the original powerful people in Kyushu Island.

In the future, wherever gold, silver or copper mines are discovered, the governor of Yingzhou will send people to manage the mines, and the commander will send a small number of troops to garrison the mines.

When there are more mines in Yingzhou, the administrative divisions will have to be changed - Yingzhou and Governor-General Iwami's territory will be merged, and Tsushima Island and other places will also be included.

Regardless of the governance method, promoting sinicization and encouraging immigration will not change.

Like Japan and Goryeo, although they do not share a common language, they both use Chinese characters, which is extremely beneficial for sinicization.

As for hiragana and katakana, they are not yet acceptable.

Katakana is the Japanese phonetic notation for Chinese characters, and there is no unified standard yet. It will take several hundred years for it to mature.

Hiragana was originally a phonetic alphabet used exclusively by Japanese women. It was only gradually familiar to Japanese men about a hundred years ago with the popularity of The Tale of Genji. However, it can only be used to write popular readings, and official documents and history books must use Chinese characters.

The first step that Ming officials took to promote sinicization in Yingzhou was to ban the use of hiragana and temporarily allow the use of katakana to pronounce Chinese characters.

While Taira no Kiyomori killed several brothers of the Minamoto clan, he also recognized another branch of the Minamoto clan in the east.

Genji couldn't kill all of them, so he had to compromise.

Then, with the support of the Ming court, Taira no Kiyomori supported Emperor Hidehito (Emperor Sutoku) as the King of Japan. He abolished the king's regency and established the Shogunate to rule the country.

As for the ill Emperor Tainin (Konoe), he was directly deposed.

Instead of appointing a crown prince (the Crown Prince of Japan) for the time being, Taira no Kiyomori married one of his sisters to the king in the hope that she would give birth to a son to inherit the throne.

After completing this series of operations, Taira no Kiyomori completely controlled the court, and all the ministers who dared to step out were liquidated by him.

Then, in the name of the Shogun, he sent his trusted aides to serve as governors of various counties and kingdoms, thus at least controlling the local power in Japan on the surface.

It was not until this time that Taira no Kiyomori asked the King of Japan to announce that in order to thank the Ming Dynasty for saving the Japanese country, the entire Saikaido of Japan (Kyushu and surrounding islands) would be dedicated to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Yes, this was the land donated by the King of Japan, not the cession of land by the Shogun!
As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar.

However, the Ming army was stationed in Heian-kyō, and no one dared to march to Kyoto to purge the emperor. Several nobles expressed their dissatisfaction in poems, but were soon framed and executed by Taira no Kiyomori.

Xu Liangyou continued to stay in Heian-kyo and sent 500 soldiers under his command to Fukuoka to protect the Yingzhou officials who were about to take office.

The governor of Chikuzen Province in Fukuoka looted the property and fled before the Ming soldiers arrived - he was originally an acting official and did not have much real power in Chikuzen Province, so it was normal for him to run back to Heian-kyo to enjoy his life.

In midsummer, Chao Ruogu, the governor of Yingzhou, arrived in Fukuoka and entered the provincial capital under the protection of the army.

The next day, the local tyrant Hara Tanaka Shigeru was summoned.

"Your humble servant...I am here to greet the governor!" Harada Nakashige didn't know how to introduce himself.

Chao Ruogu was kind and said with a smile, "No need to be polite, just sit down and talk."

Upon hearing the translation, Harada Nakashige hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

Chao Ruogu asked, "Can you speak Chinese?"

Harada Nakashige said: "I used to work in the government office of Chikuzen Province. There were often Ming merchants coming and going in Hakata Port. Some Ming merchants from Zhejiang and Shandong even opened shops and stayed there. Therefore, I can understand some Ming Mandarin, but I can only listen and not speak it very well."

"We should still learn the Ming Dynasty's official language," said Chao Ruogu.

Harada Nakashige immediately stated: "I will definitely study hard."

Chao Ruogu asked again: "I heard from the merchants in the Ming Dynasty that you changed your surname to Harada only 20 years ago?"

Harada Nakashige said, "That's right. My family was originally a direct descendant of the Okura clan. When our ancestor served as the Shogun of the Western Expedition, he moved to Chikuzen Province and settled there."

Chao Ruogu took out a copy of Nihon Shoki (The Japanese Shoki): "I didn't know much about Japan, but I finished reading it on my way to take up my new post. I didn't expect that there are many descendants of Han Chinese in Japan, and the Okura clan is one of them."

The Harada clan is a direct descendant of the Okura clan and has always had a family tree. In the 21st century, they are still worshipping their ancestors of the Liu clan.

Harada Nakashige said: "My ancestor was Azhi Gong, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xian of Han. He brought 2,000 people to Japan during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. He first changed his surname to Sakagami and later to Okura. My branch changed its surname to Harada 20 years ago."

Chao Ruogu's smile suddenly disappeared, and he asked with a straight face: "If you are a descendant of the Liu family, why do you have a Yi surname?"

Harada Nakamo was startled and hurriedly explained: "It was God... the Japanese king who gave me this surname. I dare not disobey." Chao Ruogu said: "This is no longer Japan's Saikaido, but Yingzhou of the Ming Dynasty. Do you want to keep using this surname?"

Harada Nakamao said: "I dare not. The Harada family will immediately change their surname to their ancestor's. From now on, I will no longer be Harada Nakamao, but Liu Zhongmao!"

The ancestor of Japan's Okura clan is very clear, namely Liu Azhi, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Xian of Han.

In addition to the Okura family, there are dozens of other surnames that are descendants of Liu Azhi. Most of them were given surnames by the Japanese emperor after they made meritorious services.

They moved here in the tenth year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty. Liu Azhi brought his son, uncle, clansmen, and more than 2,000 slaves with him, and was directly appointed as a court official when he arrived in Japan.

Moreover, Liu Azhi and his son Liu Duhe also went to Japan as envoys to conduct diplomatic activities with Sun Wu - this estimated year record is incorrect.

Chao Ruogu smiled again and became amiable again: "Since you are a descendant of the Chinese, you should be given important positions. The imperial court is planning to change Chikuzen Province into Fukuoka Prefecture. How about you become the first magistrate of Fukuoka Prefecture?"

Harada... No, it was Liu Zhongmao whose mouth opened wide, as if he had picked up a five million lottery jackpot on the road.

After coming to his senses, Liu Zhongmao immediately ran over and knelt down: "Thank you for your appreciation, Governor. I will definitely be loyal to the Ming Dynasty!"

This kind of county magistrate is a local county magistrate, not a real official. In the Ming Dynasty, he is at most a first-class official.

When the news spread that Harada changed his surname back to Liu and was appointed as the county magistrate, countless descendants of the Chinese suddenly appeared throughout Yingzhou.

Each of them rushed to Hakata Port as quickly as possible with their freshly-made family tree, and bought Ming Dynasty costumes at the port to wear, hoping that their new identities would be recognized by the prefect.

There were even many fights that broke out along the way. The powerful people in the same place killed each other or delayed their competitors to ensure that they could see the prefect first.

They had not read much Chinese history books and were not even familiar with the Nihon Shoki, so the family tree they fabricated was full of loopholes.

Yingzhou, Fukuoka Prefecture, Hakata City.

"Your Kikuchi clan seems to be descendants of the Fujiwara clan?" Liu Zhongmao laughed.

It was only a month since he changed his surname from Harada to Liu, but he already considered himself a descendant of the Chinese Miao people and regarded other powerful people as Japanese barbarians.

It would be fine if those small families came to make trouble, but the Kikuchi family only separated from the Fujiwara family more than a hundred years ago!

The emperor's close bloodline descendants actually said that their ancestors migrated from China.

Who the hell believes that?
Chao Ruogu, the governor of Yingzhou, believed it and pointed out the loopholes in his genealogy: "According to the dates in your genealogy, they moved to Japan 542 years ago. It was not the Tang Dynasty, but the Sui Dynasty. It needs to be revised."

The head of the Kikuchi family, who had changed his name to Li Yixin and claimed to be a descendant of the Li Tang Dynasty, quickly explained: "We have been away from our homeland for hundreds of years, and most likely there were errors in the family tree when it was copied."

Chao Ruogu nodded and smiled: "It is the greatest virtue to admit one's mistakes and correct them."

Li Yixin put on a tearful expression and squeezed out a few tears: "The Kikuchi family has remembered the teachings of our ancestors for generations, and has always wanted to return to China. Now we have finally fulfilled the wishes of our ancestors. Even if I die today, I will have the nerve to go to the underworld to meet my ancestors. Woo woo woo..."

Liu Zhongmao rolled his eyes and looked down on these guys even more. I am the real Chinese Miao, and you are all Japanese pretenders!
In any case, this family, which had only separated from the Fujiwara clan more than a hundred years ago, was recognized by the governor and became a descendant of the Li Tang clan. They also became county magistrates, with jurisdiction in the Kumamoto area of ​​Japan.

The two men left the provincial government office. Liu Zhongmao walked in front with his head held high, while Li Yixin followed timidly behind. Their status was completely reversed from before.

When Li Yixin was still named Kikuchi, all the noble families in Kyushu Island were inferior to him. After all, he had the blood of the Japanese royal family!

But now he feels guilty, Li Yixin knows that he is a fake. Liu Zhongmao is definitely the real thing, as it is clearly written in "Japanese Chronicles".

After walking for a while, Li Yixin said to Liu Zhongmao, "Mr. Liu, please stay. I have prepared some small gifts."

Liu Zhongmao smiled and praised: "You are quite sensible."

Li Yixin said: "From now on, Liu Jun and I are both wise ministers, and we should take care of each other. Liu Jun is a close minister of the prefect, so I hope you can say a few good words to him."

"No problem." Liu Zhongmao became more and more proud.

The salaries of the two were paid by the imperial court in Ming Dynasty currency. They were definitely corrupt and even exploited the people in their hometown, but the prefect Chao Ruogu was too lazy to care and just paid the taxes in full.

Even if some taxes were in arrears, the prefect could be forgiven, as long as they were not in arrears year after year, as that would greatly affect the prestige of the court.

Chao Ruogu came to be the prefect, and his main task was to explore mines and mine.

At that time, the county magistrates who were born as powerful people would have to help recruit the people as miners. If there was any civil unrest, as long as it was not serious, the powerful people could handle it themselves, and there was no need for the Ming army to suppress it personally.

Moreover, the powerful people who were appointed as county magistrates would certainly be able to produce the "Chinese Family Tree". If they wanted to continue to abuse their power, they had to maintain their new identities and spontaneously change their families into Ming Dynasty clothing.

They would regard themselves as descendants of the Hua Xia Miao people and take the initiative to help promote sinicization, thereby influencing other powerful people and the common people.

If the locals are really resented by the gods and the people, they will be severely punished. In history, the teenage Minamoto no Tametomo gathered a group of country warriors and beat them to the point that they begged the emperor for help. How could the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty be afraid that they could not defeat them?
Anyway, all the bad things are done by illegal and powerful people. The Ming Dynasty court and government will always be benevolent and love the people!

(End of this chapter)